


To Live Again

by CowardKing



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Future, Beta Concept Art Luz Noceda, Beta Concept Art Willow Park, Blood and Violence, F/F, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Not Beta Read, Slow Burn, like extreeemely slow
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 08:55:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29731449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CowardKing/pseuds/CowardKing
Summary: What if instead of fighting the emperor, Luz was actually sent home before Eda was brought up to be petrified? And what if, five years after her unbelievable two months on the boiling isles, she returned?
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Camila Noceda & Luz Noceda
Comments: 10
Kudos: 39





	1. Familiar Feelings

**Author's Note:**

> Initially, I was just going to do bits of art for this but the idea wouldn't leave me alone so this is the product of that.
> 
> YBOS divergent. 
> 
> I'll be expanding tags as more characters and themes appear.

When Eda opened the portal, Luz couldn't believe what she was hearing. How could she leave?! How could she leave without Eda!? No. No! She wouldn't hear of it! But when she spoke of staying, of rescuing Eda and going home to the owl house, Eda wouldn't hear of that either. The witch gripped her apprentice in the tightest hug she could muster before whispering a final apology as she pushed Luz back, sending the young girl tumbling through the portal. Before she could register what had happened she saw the glowing portal snap shut in front of her. Instantly she was on her feet but she reached the door just a moment too late as it folded up on itself and vanished leaving Luz alone in the woods next to the dilapidated shack that first led her to the Boiling Isles... 

The images and sounds blurred before suddenly--

Luz awoke with a start, bolting upright in her bed. She looked around confused, she felt as though she'd lost... something. And yet here she was in her same bed in her same room... This was starting to get annoying honestly, she huffed under her breath until she felt a tear spill over and trail down her cheek. 'Man, that bad this time?' she thought sourly. Every so often she'd wake up tense from a dream she could never really remember, but still felt whatever the hell the dream made her feel, and lately it was getting worse. With a grumble, she wiped away the sleep from her eyes, along with the tear she was fully planning to ignore. Not only were those dreams getting more frequent, but apparently the intensity was growing as well. Just what the hell was going on with these stupid dreams? She wasn't even that stressed these days! A few curses were muttered under Luz's breath as she finally clambered out of bed and stretched before starting to get ready for the day. 

Her usual schedule was... pretty open. She had a part-time job but spent the majority of her time working on her manuscript. She felt really lucky that she was able to get away with that sort of schedule, working only a part-time job and getting to work on her dream the rest of the time. Though, of course, she still lived with her mom but there was no way she could just up and leave Camila on her own! Speaking of, as she brushed her teeth she was pretty sure she could hear her mother singing along with the radio downstairs. She finished washing up, spending a few extra moments to glare at the bags under her eyes and adjusting her beanie before half jogging down the steps. Camila looked up smiling as her daughter rounded the corner into the kitchen. "Morning mija, how'd you sleep?" 

"Mm, I'm not sure... I think I had a bad dream but I can't quite remember it..." Luz frowned, looking up a moment trying her best to remember that damn dream... 

"Hmm? If you can't remember it, how do you know it was bad?" Camila moved back over to the stove stirring something in a pot and putting the lid back on.

"Just a feeling I guess. I woke up and it felt like I lost something... someone important?" Luz scratched the back of her head and wandered over. "I'm really not sure..." 

"Oh, I've had those kinds of dreams before." Camila looked back and noticed the watery look in her daughter's eyes. She moved and pulled Luz into a hug. "Oh, mijita, it's okay, it was just a dream." She said rubbing Luz's back.

"Yeah..." Luz pulled back and smiled "Just a dream." 

A sudden loud pop startled them both as Camila suddenly turned around "Ay! The potatoes!"

* * *

"So what's the plan today? Working on your book?" Camila asked before taking a sip of her coffee.

Luz glanced up, her fork full of totally not extra crispy fried potatoes halfway to her mouth, "Huh? Oh yeah. It's coming along."

"How about you take the laptop out today? You could go write in the library or the park--" She paused a bit sheepish at the flat look Luz gave her. "It's a nice day outside mija! I just don't think it's healthy for you to stay cooped up in here all the time." She glanced down picking at her eggs a moment before taking another bite. 

"I don't know..." Luz grumbled, her tone very clearly stating that she wasn't interested, but she also knew that her mother was nothing if not persistent.

"I'm not saying stay out all day, you can just go out for a couple hours and come back home." Camila offered as Luz ate some more of her breakfast. 

"Hmm..." Luz half grumbled under her breath, internally debating the best course of action. "Yeah okay, I'll try writing out somewhere today." She conceded, taking another bite of her eggs. Yeah, a change of scenery couldn't hurt.

* * *

A sudden right hook impacted the corner of Luz's mouth, sending her nearly off balance. She was able to catch herself but only just. She reached up and wiped the bit of blood from her split lip a moment before she shifted her body weight, and returned the punch straight into her attacker's gut. He stumbled back coughing and retching. "Isn't it a little too early for you bastards to be out here?" She frowned across the alleyway at his two remaining compatriots.

"No way! Besides, you're out here too!" the second troublemaker sidled up and put his hands up ready to fight. Luz let out a heavy sigh as he stepped forward telegraphing a left jab she was easily able to sidestep. 

"It's not the same at all. I'm not picking fights with fucking strangers." She growled with a spin sending a kick straight into the man's kidney. Well, it was sort of in that vicinity.

Today of all days, the one day this week she went out for anything other than her actual job, today she got jumped. Thankfully these guys were really... really really bad at fighting. One had tried to catch her off guard but it was honestly a comedy of errors at this point. Not that they hadn't gotten a few good hits on her, but between the three dumbasses they'd managed to give her a bloody lip. Meanwhile, one was incapacitated heaving his apparently very hearty breakfast all over the pavement and the other two were just... it was kind of sad. Had they caught her on a bad day it could have easily been a blood bath but this wasn't even fun at this point! The third finally stepped forward and then, of all things, nodded!!

Luz's eyes flattened. Thanks to her height it wasn't like she could just duck out of the way, but she wouldn't have to. As soon as the dickhead in front of her moved in range she took the initiative and dashed forward popping him in the nose before the second guy had gotten in position. It wasn't perfect, but the one behind her was off-balanced and the one in front of her was holding his nose "You broke it!!" She hadn't felt the signature crack of bone beneath her fist, but while he was distracted she used the opportunity to slide behind him as the other started running towards her. She gave the one behind her a shove forward and he stumbled, but while she was hoping the idiots would bump into each other they just stumbled forward, one still. One turned, cradling his definitely not broken nose, and the other just glared at her.

She returned a flat stare before turning around and headed towards the other opening of the alleyway "Okay, I'm done, I'm bored." She said more irritated than anything, "I'm leaving." 

"Hey, wait!" She heard them call, ignoring them for the most part. But then she heard running. Luz frowned but didn't turn back until she heard them closing in on her. She glanced back and thanks to their godawful techniques she managed to turn just in time to block a kick, but the force sent her tumbling backward out of the alley and onto the main sidewalk hitting the ground roughly. As she rolled onto her hands and knees to stand up a glint caught her eye across the street. The park. She'd finally made it to the park! But... what was that strange bright spot, and why did it feel so important?

Luz could hear those bastards right behind her, also clamoring to their feet. If she was gonna go, she had to go... now! In an instant, she was on her feet and sprinting into the busy street.

"What the hell are you doing!?"   
"Are you crazy!?" She could hear the calls after her as she dashed through the traffic, weaving between cars as the squeal of breaks and slamming on horns drowned out the shouts of her pursuers. She made it to the other side unscathed, only pausing to catch her breath for a moment. 

She looked up, her eyes training immediately onto that bright light. Once again she broke into a full sprint to the light, it was... really bright and she was running further and further into the woods... After a time Luz slowed to a stop, tightly gripping one of the straps of her bag staring at the wide open glowing... doorway? before her. Why the hell was this so familiar? Why did it feel like a part of her was just begging for her to go into it? She suddenly realized two things, one, her sight was blurry with tears, and two, the doorway was closing. Silently she took a deep breath and stepped through.

"I'm sorry, mom."


	2. Scenes of Yesterday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luz is in for a rollercoaster of emotion when she finds herself back in the Boiling Isles. Does she trust her mind, her heart, or her gut? A friendly face puts her on the right track but something's not adding up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one took me a while but I'm pretty happy with it, I think things will start getting interesting soon~
> 
> Thank you for all the comments hits and kudos on ch1!

When the bright lights faded Luz looked around finding herself in... a very familiar forest. Which was strange considering that the trees and ground were orange and the sky was purple. _'What the fuck?!'_ Luz stared, absolutely stunned. _'The Boiling Isles?'_ her mind helpfully supplied as she gaped.

The Boiling Isles... Luz's eyebrows furrowed, she hadn't heard or spoken that name in years at least... 

_"So, let's go over how you got to these 'boiling islands' again... You said it started because you chased... an owl through a portal? Why exactly were you chasing an owl?" A man sat in a leather office chair facing her, rubbing the space between his eyebrows. "They're the Boiling Isles and his name is Owlbert. I was chasing him because he stole my book out of the trash." Oh, that's her voice, or rather what her voice used to sound like when she was in high school but the name felt almost unfamiliar... "Why would an owl-- never mind, what else do you remember?" Luz smiled, a rarity in those days, less so now thankfully, "So we wound up at this old broken down house in the woods. It was kinda... creepy but that's Azura no. 1 he's got! So of course I go after him! But suddenly instead of the inside of some broken down shack, I'm in some kind of a tent and this thing is just chock full of stuff!" Luz waved her hands as she told the story, her excitement growing as she relived the best-- no maybe second best-- day of her life! Her therapist listening and only occasionally wrote things down in his notebook "And it was there you met...?" he paused glancing up to the young Luz sitting on a couch lightly drumming on one of the throw pillows. "Eda the owl lady! She's... she was... the best." Luz's good mood vanished instantly as she looked down and away, picking up the pillow and holding it to her chest in a crushing grip. Tears welled up in her eyes but she grit her teeth finding herself more angry than sad at that moment "She... she was very important to me, and now... now she's gone and it's..."_

"My fault." Luz finished the thought aloud glaring forward, her hands balling into fists. Now, this was a feeling she knew quite well... but before the rage could settle in too comfortably she heard the portal close behind her! Luz whipped around wide-eyed only to see the portal fly straight past her. Panic seeped in as she started after it, she had to be able to get home! As she chased it down, she went over that memory again... but wait... Eda was the owner of the portal, but because of Luz Eda was kil--... gone... That meant this portal... wasn't going to Eda. Luz swallowed thickly as the realization set its full weight upon her. Most likely... she'd have to fight a witch for the portal...

A slow shiver worked its way up her spine as she prepared herself mentally for the battle. Though if she were lucky she might be able to convince them to let her use it... maybe? She continued after the portal but slowed and hid among the nearby trees when she heard voices. "I still don't understand why I have to do this." A woman's voice complained, there was no response but that voice seemed... familiar. Luz racked her brain through her recently recalled memories.... "No. No! I realize that but you can't just use the same excu-" And suddenly it clicked! Luz looked around and grabbed the nearest thing she could think of for a weapon, setting her backpack down softly so as to not draw any attention. She took a slow, near silent deep breath before she charged out of the tree line at the tall black haired witch, Lilith! 

Unfortunately, the woman turned around just in time to spy a tall figure charging at her with... was that a stick? She was so confused in the moment that Luz had nearly closed the gap by the time she managed to summon her shield. Luz slammed the stick down on the shield spell with all she had and was somewhat pleasantly surprised when it started to crack. "Titan!" Lilith shouted as Luz reared back for another blow, quickly trying to summon her staff. "What are you doing!? What's wrong with you!?"

"I'm here to finish what you fucking started, Lilith!!" Luz shouted swinging the stick down into the shield again causing another large fracture. Maybe one more and she'd get through that pesky shield. Lilith's staff appeared just in time as she whirled it around sending out a bolt of magic. Luz didn't even notice until it was too late and took a harsh blow that knocked her back from the shield. But now that magic was involved she wouldn't make the same mistake twice. She dodged the follow up bolt and started towards the witch again. 

"What? W-wait! Let's talk about this! I think I'd remember fighting a witch like you before!" Lilith stood to her full height and spun her staff forming a magic circle that started to mend her shield, the blue light slowly melding back together. Luz grit her teeth and sprinted forward, she cut it a little close as bolts of magic flashed past, grazing her once or twice. In seconds she was in range and smashed her impromptu weapon into the shield, shattering the poor stick to splinters, but more importantly, crushing through the shield as well. Without missing a beat, and without giving Lilith a chance to use her staff again Luz dropped the remains of the stick and raised her fist punching right through to Lilith's face. 

There was a satisfying crunch in the impact as the blow carried Luz forward a few steps. The shield vanished as Lilith dropped her staff from the impact but before Luz could rear up and strike again she... stopped. She struggled to take another step and finally looked down only to realize her shoes and arms were completely entangled in vines. "That's enough!" Another voice rang out from a short way behind her as two sets of footsteps rounded her side. 

"Let's get a good look before we decide what to do with them." A third voice followed, one of the footsteps sped up, a girl with brown hair dashed in front of Luz to help Lilith. The latter of which clutched her bloodied nose and cursed under her breath from where she'd fell back before Luz could finish the job. "Are you alright?" 

"Hey, over here!" Luz frowned and grit her teeth turning to the last witch. As their eyes met, the witch's jaw dropped. Luz's eyes widened in recognition, Those green eyes, short black hair, even her face was almost severely familiar. 

"Willow?" The name was out of her mouth before she realized but in an instant memories of that summer so many years ago flooded her almost as quickly as the tears filled her eyes and spilling down her face.

Willow's expression immediately softened, her vines retreating as she pulled Luz into a bone-crushing hug. "Luz! You're... here! I can't believe-- How did you-- You're here!" Luz was stunned for a full minute before she returned the hug getting a good grip before standing back to her full height and picking up the shorter girl with her. "W-woah!"

"I knew it." Luz muttered under her breath, beaming as she set Willow back down on. "Wait! Why the fuck are you defending her?!" Luz pointed at Lilith, sitting rather impatiently getting her nose checked on. 

"Huh?" Willow looked up at Luz raising an eyebrow before glancing back at Lilith who had her attention trained back on Luz at the outburst. "Uh... She's helping us. But look, you're back! You finally came back..." There was an expression Luz didn't recognize or at least something she didn't recognize on her friend, but it was gone in an instant replaced by a confident, lazy smile. "So let's head back to the house and catch up, okay?"

Luz stared for a moment, something felt... off. Willow was there when Lilith caught them! Undoubtedly she heard what happened after! But... it wasn't impossible to think that maybe things had changed, maybe Eda's petrification woke Lilith the fuck up and she grew to regret those decisions. It'd been years after all... The tall girl noticed the vines having left her free to move and immediately stepped away, walking off the path, she bent over and retrieved her bag from where she'd dropped it earlier.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Willow called after her when suddenly Luz stood to her full height placing the pack on her back again. 

She turned facing Willow with a frown. "Look, I don't know what the fuck is going on but why do you need _her_ help?!" She snipped, her hands balling into fists again. "I know it's been... years but I can't just pretend nothing happened!" The words left her before she really thought them through, but that was exactly what she'd done hadn't she? Luz grit her teeth and turned her back to Willow "I'm not going with the leader of the fucking emperor's coven to a second goddamn location!" 

Willow's eyes widened at the outburst. She had thought maybe that Luz would know her well enough, even after all this time, to know she wouldn't purposely hu-- wait, wait wait wait. Willow muffled a snicker. "I guess you wouldn't know what happened, but she's not in the emperor's coven anymore. Just... trust me on this, okay?" She suddenly turned to look at the woods around them. "It's not safe to talk about this out here." 

Luz blinked, turning back before tossing a glance to where Willow was looking, she didn't see anything but that didn't keep a shudder from rolling through her spine. "Alright, I guess. You were my best friend so I'll choose to believe you." The human turned back to Lilith and the other witch. "But she walks in front. She tried to kill me once and like hell I'm going to give her another chance." She punctuated the statement with another glare at Lilith. 

Willow blinked, "She what!?" She knew that the witch had kidnapped Luz to get Eda to fight her but-- 

"Hey, are you two finished? I wanna get going sooner than later" The witch Luz didn't quite recognize helped Lilith stand up and looked around a little suspiciously. Lilith frowned and turned without giving Luz a second glance but grumbling under her breath as she held the cloth to her nose to staunch the bleeding. 

"... yeah, sure thing Bo." Willow frowned and glanced back to Luz, "I'm sorry, I didn't know, there's a lot going on right now but I want you to tell me about that too. If you're okay with that." She crossed her arms, falling into thought as the four of them started back to the house. 

Luz nodded and scratched the back of her neck feeling very... anxious honestly. Part of her was itching to run after Lilith and finish things, another part just wanted to sit with willow and ignore the other witches entirely and just... catch up, and yet another part told her to snatch the portal out of Lilith's hand and run home. It was the last part she decided to suppress the most.

The rest of the walk was in relative silence and the anxiety in Luz's gut only seemed to solidify more and more. It wasn't until they rounded a curve in the trail that she realized she recognized this path! She turned staring at Willow who seemed to be contemplating something before turning back to Bo and Lilith in front of them. Luz frowned, "We're... Why are we going to the owl house!?" She half-whispered to the witch next to her.

"Because I live there." Lilith responded, "It's the safest place on the isles for us right now." She stated with authority, though it was somewhat undermined by the cloth she held to her nose affecting her tone. 

"Well, one of--" Bo added before a glare from the taller witch caused her to quiet down. She glanced away and rolled her eyes. "If someone were following us Hooty would be here already." She tried to repress a slight shudder at mentioning that... thing.

Luz frowned at being overheard before the words sunk in. "Wait, you what?! You think you can just take the whole fucking house!?" She grit her teeth and balled her hands into fists taking a quicker step to close the distance when Willow grabbed her arm and shook her head. 

Lilith blinked, "What? I didn't take anythin--" 

"Yeah let me guess Eda left it to you in her fucking will." Luz groaned before turning to Willow, "I said I'll wait so I'll fucking wait but that doesn't mean I'm not gonna break her fucking jaw when you're d... why are you looking at me like that?" Willow looked confused mostly, but at least partially stunned. Her jaw wasn't hanging open or anything but her eyes were wide, eyebrows caught between a question and concern. Luz felt more eyes on her and looked up to see both Bo and Lilith tossing concerned looks over their shoulders. 

"What do you mean?" Willow finally asked, though there was something in her tone Luz didn't like. 

Luz tilted her head, "Oh! You guys don't know what a will is, right?" She sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "Never mind, let's just get this over with."

Willow frowned, "No Luz, we have wills here too but why do yo--"

"HOOOOOOOT!!"

"Hooty! I demand you release Francois this instant!!!"

Lilith groaned as they rounded the end of the path, finding exactly what it sounded like. Hooty was stretched out of the door waving around King's favorite stuffed rabbit. Luz's eyes lit up, they were here! They're... real! Another memory resurfaced, a mix of King's or Hooty's misadventures and the drawings she made of them back on earth. Those early days were the hardest and she drew everyone she could. She probably had the most pictures of King, probably. 

"No waaaay!" Hooty twisted himself around "He's my friend now, hoot hoot!"

"He's no one's friend! He's the strongest general in my army of darkness!!" King screeched. He looked a few seconds away from a squeal of rage when he turned hearing the four approach. "Good! My minions are here!! This is your last chance! Return Francois or face my wrath!!" He pointed up at the house demon.

"He's Myyy friend!" Hooty countered. A strong argument considering he was stretched 5ft higher than King could reach. The small demon turned back to his minions and assessing them each by both strength and willingness to listen before he ran straight up to Luz.

"Luz! My strongest minion! You need to rescue Francois! He's been kidnapped by the enemy!!" He tugged on her pant leg, pulling her towards the door. 

Luz laughed and picked him up, "Better yet, come here buddy." She walked over to Hooty and raised him up over her head where he latched onto Francois yanking the stuffed toy out of a stunned Hooty's mouth. 

"Haha! Take that!" King laughed victorious before something finally clicked. He whipped around looking at the person holding him. It was clearly Luz, though she looked, and dressed somewhat differently, there was no mistaking that human. "LUZ!? YOU'RE BACK!!!"

At that Luz couldn't help but burst out laughing, followed by Willow, Bo, and even Lilith. All of a sudden Hooty wrapped her up in a very... Hooty attempt at a hug, he opened his beak to say something when the door slammed open causing him to drop Luz and King. "Ow! Hey, watch it! Hoot hoot!" 

Luz stumbled but managed to stay upright as the door opened in front of her. "Jeez what's all this racke... t..." King leaped out of Luz's arms running to Eda and tugging on the ragged hem of her dress. 

"Eda! Eda! Look! Luz is back!!" 

Luz gaped at the older woman, absolutely shocked. It was undoubtedly Eda, even though one of her eyes seemed to be a grey rather than the vibrant gold of the other. "E...Eda? You're... you're here?" It was like a wave washed over her, relief beyond relief and all at once all the worry and guilt that had weaved itself into a knot of pain in her gut began to melt away. She took a tentative step forward feeling the weight of all those emotions well up and blur her vision. 

"Hey kid." Eda gave her a soft smile and Luz dashed forward nearly tackling the woman into a tight hug. 

"I can't believe it!" Luz laughed into Eda's shoulder, tears spilling over leaving trails down her face. "You're alive!!" A sob wracked through the human as she gripped the back of Eda's dress tightly. "I'm so sorry" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think these will end up getting longer over time as I really get going.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
